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Republican Motherhood

Fact: Greater educational access included making once male-only subjects of classical education, such as mathematics and philosophy, integral to curricula at public and private schools for girls.

MLA Citation: Nash, Margaret A. “Rethinking Republican Motherhood: Benjamin Rush and the Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia.” Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 17, no. 2, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, 1997, pp. 171–91, doi:10.2307/3124445.

DOI: 10.2307/3124445

Quote From Book: Eschewing the former "education for marriage" with its focus on ornamentals (music, needlework, and modern languages), the new female academies taught grammar, arithmetic, and geography, subjects formerly reserved for males.

Phase 3:

Nash, Margaret A. “Rethinking Republican Motherhood: Benjamin Rush and the Young Ladies'Academy of Philadelphia.” Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 17, no. 2, Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, 1997, pp. 171–91, doi:10.2307/3124445.

This scholarly article describes the importance of the expansion of female education after the Revolutionary War. This shows a shift in the importance of females not only teaching their sons to be good republicans and education but the need for them the females also to receive reading and math skills from their mother. This article builds on gender diversity, with the provided evidence to broaden the traditional view on the female gender roles after the Revolutionary War as they were needed for things other than just motherhood.

Westerkamp, Marilyn J. Women in Early American Religion 1600-1850. Routledge, 1999, doi:10.4324/9780203983232.

This scholarly article describes the importance of female spiritual tradition through many beliefs at a time. This article shows how important religious beliefs and structures were for creating strong empowerment for women through the centuries. This article provided evidence to show how important religion was not only for males but females also giving them a voice to have beyond what anyone said in the past. This article builds on not only gender diversity but also religious diversity as well.

Phase Four:

Fact One Paragraph: "Most historians have not questioned the ideal of republican mother-hood, but recently a few scholars have raised challenges to Kerber's thesis. Ruth Bloch and Jan Lewis argue that motherhood simply was not a primary focus for many writers of the revolutionary era. It might be more accurate to say that there was a prevailing ideal of republican womanhood, of which motherhood was only one piece. Fiction and essays in popular magazines continually spoke of women's capacity for great influence over men-husbands, suitors, brothers, and sons. It is republican womanhood, far more than motherhood, that educational theorists of the time employed as an argument supporting the need for female education."(Page 174-175)

Fact One Summary: Females have always been thought of in just a motherhood perspective, but they need to be part of womanhood becoming more educated, and have chances of doing what males can for the sole purpose of them having such great influence on the male population.

Fact Two Paragraph: “With the rising importance of the family as a spiritual unit, and the central role played by the housewife, Amanda Porterfield has argued that the status of women improved. While the anchoress or nun may have enjoyed greater autonomy than her married peer, might even have exercised some power or influence, this independence and authority grew out of a holiness possible only in her celibacy. In other words, by denying her sexuality and overcoming her femaleness, the “genderless” individual claimed spiritual power. After the Reformation, this argument continues, women were honored in their femaleness as essential members of the family. This vision articulated in the domestic manuals was also reflected in countless eulogies and memorials.” (Page 5)

Fact Two Summary: Many females were denied the right to express their religious beliefs, so they had to stand up for themselves and do what they needed to live how they wanted, it was expressed that women were finally recognized as essential members of the household and given the religious rights they deserved.

Article Section:

1) With the growing emphasis being placed on republicanism, women were expected to help promote these values; they had a special role in raising the next generation. In Linda K. Kerber's article "The Republican Mother: Women and the Enlightenment - An American Perspective", she compared republican motherhood to the Spartan model of childhood,[1] where children are raised to value patriotism and the sacrificing of their own needs for the greater good of the country. By doing so, the mothers would encourage their sons to pursue liberty and roles in the government, while their daughters would perpetuate the domestic sphere with the next generation. In addition, women were permitted to receive more of an education than they previously had been allowed. Therefore, Females have always been thought of in just a motherhood perspective, but they need to be part of womanhood becoming more educated and have chances of doing what males can for the sole purpose of them having such great influence on the male population.

2) However, as the nineteenth century drew closer, many Protestant ministers and moralists argued that modesty and purity were inherent in women's natures, giving them a unique ability to promote Christian values with their children.[3] Many females were denied the right to express their religious beliefs, so they had to stand up for themselves and do what they needed to live how they wanted, it was expressed that women were finally recognized as essential members of the household and given religious rights they deserved.